Investiture in Swindon

Quite a busy day at home today until about 3.45 p.m. when John H called for me to drive up to Swindon for the Wiltshire Masters' Lodge meeting. The weather was very pleasant today and the grass seed which I sowed last week is now showing signs of taking. Mary has a very heavy cold is feeling most wretched and Tom is not too happy today either because he doesn't really know what he wants to do. The long summer holiday will soon be over and both will be back to school. Tonight I was invested as Senior Deacon of the Wiltshire Masters' Lodge in a very nice ceremony in Swindon. This was followed by an interesting lecture on the topic of "What we do and why we do it" whose message was that the essence of the masonic message (brotherly love, charity and ethical behaviour) was far more important than getting ritual right. How similar that message is to us Christians who feel that the Christian message of God's love through Christ should be conveyed to as many people as possible in a way which is not bound up too tightly with ritual and tradition. The meeting was followed by an excellent dinner of smoked mackerel, cold meats and salad with hot new potatoes, cheesecake, cheese and biscuits and coffee and mints. It was good to be with old friends again from lodges from all over Wiltshire and beyond. The meeting ended just before 10 p.m. and we were back in Winterslow by 11 p.m. Ironically, whilst I had been in Swindon enjoying masonic hospitality, Southampton FC had been entertaining Swindon Town FC in the first round of the Johnson's Paint Trophy contest. The result, a thumping 0-3 defeat at the hands of the Wiltshire club. In a way I was quite pleased that the first game (fortunately not a league game) without Alan Pardew should result in such a bad defeat. Also whilst in Swindon, Sara attended a branch meeting in Ower of her Vie company but was back home before me.

Farewell Alan, and Thanks!

I woke up this morning to the shocking and quite unexpected news that Alan Pardew and his coaching team had been sacked by the management of Southampton Football Club. This, after a brilliant 4-0 win against Bristol Rovers on Saturday, makes no sense at all to the average fan. Clearly, there are issues behind the scene which we do not know about and which may, or may not, emerge in due course. I formed a group on Facebook asking people to sign up if they want to support a move to re-instate him. I read many of the posts on Facebook during the morning from different fans and friends all expressing the same shock and surprise as me. The speculation now starts as to whom the management team have in mind to replace Pardew. Alan has achieved much for the club in the last 13 months, not least the JP Trophy win at Wembley - the first silverware since the FA Cup win in 1976. This afternoon I took some of the hedge clippings and other rubbish down to the dump at Amesbury and afterwards played eighteen holes of golf at the miniature golf/pitch and putt course at Stonehenge Golf Centre in Larkhill. I was delighted with my first nine holes - achieving five par threes but the second nine was not so good. I was rushing a bit as I was needed at All Saints this evening to move some furniture. Tonight we ate roast pork and watched a programme on great white sharks. An early night beckoned.

A Quiet Sunday

Quite a relaxing Sunday for once. The family stayed at home this morning as I went to the Clarendon Team Service at Pitton Church. It was very crowded with members of the congregations from all the constituent parishes and I had to squeeze in the back alongside retired cleric, Canon Roger Sharpe. I was also given a service sheet for a baptism rather than a Team Eucharist! Never mind, I've been to enough Eucharists to be able to follow the service. I stayed for coffee afterwards and was able to chat with Debbie and others from the different parishes. It was good to see so many people from our surrounding villages attending church this morning. Not too many children though, alas. This afternoon I did a little gardening and reading, I also went into Salisbury to post some important legal papers and met up with my former work colleague, Anthony, for afternoon tea in Waitrose's cafe. We chatted about the old company and old colleagues as well as discussing current affairs. It was good to touch base as he spends most of his time in Surrey these days (and I hardly ever go up there at all now). This evening Sara, Mary and I watched "Bruce Almighty" an enjoyable American comedy with Morgan Freeman once more playing God. I cannot recall one film with Morgan Freeman in it which I have not enjoyed.

Goodnight Irene! You'll see Saints in your dreams!

I woke at 7 a.m. today and made tea for myself and Sara. I didn't need to get up quite so early as Tom and I were not leaving for Bristol until about 10.30 a.m. I went back to bed and after reading my devotionals snoozed for an hour. Finally getting up, I showered and Sara cooked bacon rolls for Tom and me. We left for Bristol at about 10.20 a.m. and drove over Salisbury Plain to Devizes, Chippenham and down the M4/M32 to the Memorial Ground in Horfield, Bristol - home of Bristol Rovers FC. After parking on MullerRoad, we found a chippie in Gloucester Road - Tom had sausage and chips and I had a grilled shish kebab and salad. We entered the ground about an hour before kick-off and sat and read the excellent matchday programme produced by BRFC. We found the stewards and staff most friendly and courteous. Saints fans took the whole of the away end (the marquee as I call it) as well as all the open terrace reserved for visting supporters. The ground was a capacity sell-out (8,226 attendance) of which nearly 2,000 must have been Saints fans. Saints were "on fire" from the start and by half time were 2-0 in the lead. Two more goals in the second half and a clean sheet from Kelvin Davis secured a well deserved and important 4-0 victory. Our goal difference changed in this one match from -1 to 3 and our position in the table from 20th to 14th. Another win like that and we should find ourselves in the play-off positions. Goals came from Fonte (10th minute); Lallana (34th minute); Lambert (penalty in the 59th minute) and a late goal in extra time from Barnard (90+1). No singing of "Good Night Irene" from the Gasheads. The singing was replaced by taunts of "Is there a fire drill?" from the Saints supporters as the Gasheads started streaming out of the ground early, knowing that their team had been thrashed by Southampton. We were fortunate to get away from Bristol within 45 minutes of the end of the game and drove home via Westbury where Tom and I had an excellent Chinese meal at my old friend "Champions" in Warminster Road. After this supper we arrived back in Winterslow at 9.00 p.m. A very happy day. The long drive over to Bristol was fully worth it for me to see Bristol Rovers lose for the first time (every match I have seen them play - against both Grimsby Town and Saints has resulted in a Rovers' victory; but not today. Irene has clearly not woken up today!

Another win for Mary!

Sara awoke early this morning with severe pains in her stomach - it seems a bad attack of IBS - which left her feeling quite wretched. She awoke early because she is due back to Brownie Pack Camp in Bursledon this morning for breakfast and to help dismantle the camp and bring back Mary and three other brownies to Winterslow. By the time she left she was feeling a little better but not on top of the world. We both wonder whether she suffers from wheat intolerance as this often seems to spark it off. I saw little of Tom this morning who spent the morning in the Family Room on his playstation. I spent the morning dealing with paperwork which seems to have accumulated. Sara returned just before 12 noon with a very tired Mary and her friend Sasha. This afternoon I cut all three lawns and washed the car. Tonight Sara had an unusual Vie party in the garrison town of Tidworth details of which I will not publish to protect the guilty. Suffice it to say, it seemed a lot of work for little reward. I took the children down to Poole greyhound racing to make up for our aborted venture when the car tyre was punctured. Neither Tom nor I had a sniff of a win but Mary, on the very last race managed to recoup nearly all our losses with a forecast win (4-2 Reverse) of £18.35! How does she do it! It seems she has a win 9 out of ten visits! Both Sara and I arrived back home within five minutes of each other. The children and I enjoyed listening to the Paul Miller Show on BBC Radio Solent on the way back.

A Sporting Day in Hampshire

The alarm woke me at 5 a.m. today and I remembered that Richard was to call for me at 6.15 a.m. to drive us to Paulton's Golf Course for our 7 a.m. round. The wind was hammering on the window and I assumed that it was lashing down with rain again like yesterday. However, when I went outside I found it dry and the wind surprisingly warm. The ground was still extremely wet from yesterday's torrents but it didn't seem we would get particularly wet. I had a mug of tea and a lightly toasted English muffin with marmalade. Richard arrived a little early and we were actually on the first tee at 6.45 a.m. I have to admit that neither of us played the best golf and I was a little disappointed after such a good round at Wilton last week. We had to suffer drizzle for the first three holes and played in our waterproof jackets. However as the round progressed the weather did improve - but not the golf! It is certainly true what they say - to improve your game you must play at least twice a week. We are still not playing sufficiently frequently enough to improve our game by any large measure. We had such good intentions of playing full round golf on a more regular basis but both of us seem to have so many other things to do - not least church work and trying to run a small business. We finished at 11 a.m. and had a coffee in the club house. The course was, by this time, full of lady golfers all dressed in pink for what we assumed was a breast cancer support event. We had an early lunch at The Vine of fish and chips before returning home. I felt quite stiff and tired and had a very short nap when I got back. Refreshed, I went into the study and dealt with some correspondence not least refiling the accounts for a client to incorporate the new companies legislation references for dormant companies. This evening Sara went to Potterne for one of her Vie parties and I took Tom to Sparsholt College near Winchester for a friendly football match against an Arsenal Select Eleven. I was not best pleased to find, after a sixteen mile journey, that he had forgotten his football boots! As I explained to him - his kit is his responsibility. It would just be like me driving over to Paulton's this morning without my clubs! Fortunately, they were playing two halves of 45 minutes and I was able to drive back home, pick up his boots and return before the second half began. Tom actually got on before the end of the first half and the game was abandoned 30 minutes after the start of the second half due to bad light and our old friend the rain. Tom's team did, however, beat Arsenal 2-1. Back home it was hot baths and showers and I then put my feet up and watched an interesting documentary about the destruction of the French Fleet by the British at Mers-el-Kebir in 1940, thought by many French as an act of unnecessary treachery by their British Allies. Sara, who arrived home from Potterne was very interested to learn of this amazing act.

Rain! Rain! Rain! - A British Summer's Day

Another very wet rainy day today. Sara returned from Brownie Camp this morning and finished off the Parish Magazine before she and Tom went into Southampton to spend the afternoon together watching Knights and Day at the cinema and going for a meal at Chiquita's afterwards. I drove into Andover to pay some bills and do some banking. I found a spot quite close to the town centre where I could park free for two hours. A useful find. This evening, with Tom and Sara out, Richard and I met in the Lion's Head for a couple of pints and to discuss arrangements for playing golf tomorrow. He has booked us a tee-off time at Paulton's of 7 a.m.! If the weather is as bad tomorrow as it is today, I cannot see much golf being played. Muddy water is streaming down past the pub onto the main road and straight into Mandie and Phil's front garden and garage. Work is currently being carried out near the village pond to install some kind of soakaway to prevent this in the future.